In August, star friend David Platte, the 36-year-old pastor of the Church of Brookhills in Birmingham,

was elected to become the next president of the SBC's International Mission Board.

The IMB has 4,800 missionary spread across the world, and no surprise we got emails like

this one.

Pastor John, my name is Jake, and I work for a missions organization in Dallas.

Can you please address the great ramifications of David Platte becoming the next president

of the IMB?

When I heard that David had been chosen to lead that great peacemaking army, like those

two metaphors together, that great peacemaking army of Southern Baptist missionaries, one

of the largest mission forces in the world, I actually, Tony, I actually trembled and

came to tears, went over to my prayer bench, and spoke to the Lord about it.

There are a few things that weigh more heavily on my heart than the reality of 6,000 unreached

people groups in the world.

Groups that according to Revelation 5 and 9, Christ was slaughtered, that's the word slaughtered

to reach.

Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open seals for you were slaughtered.

And by your blood you ransomed people, for God, from every tribe and language and people

and nation, and have made them a kingdom and praise to our God and their reign on earth.

So by your blood, Lord Jesus, the blood of the Son of God, God's blood, think of it,

God's blood poured out to gather, aronsomed people from every Muslim and Hindu and Buddhist

and Confucian and Sikh and Jewish and atheists and animist people in the world, nothing, nothing

can be more important than what the Son of God died to achieve.

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